Matthew 3:1-17

And in this episode, the Pharisees and Sadducees come out, and John says to them, he tells of Christ and says in verses 11 through 12, he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit in fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

The short of it is he will gather his people, the wheat, while judging the unrepentant, the chaff.

And so right after this foretelling by John, what do we read? Verse 13, then Jesus came.

Matthew's making it overtly obvious, just with that one word, then, that Jesus is the one of whom John spoke.

Of course, God's declaration of his son will make that abundantly clear, but even here in verse 13, we have enough to demonstrate Jesus is greater than John.

We also learn from verse 13 that Jesus identifies with his people.

Jesus identifies with his people.

Continuing there, Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.

Matthew begins his gospel account with a genealogy in chapter 1, verse 1.

That genealogy, if you recall, is organized around the Babylonian exile.

He gives 14 generations before the exile, 14 generations in the midst of exile, and 14 generations after exile.

Although, for Matthew and the Old Testament, for that matter, they speak in such a way that the exile never really truly ended.

There's never full reconciliation with God.

There's never the Davidic king long-awaited, long-expected, that would rule forever.

The temple is not quite what you expect at the end of the Old Testament.

And so there's this sense of, we're still not home yet.

Things are not all right.

And just one example of how Matthew views this ongoing exile

is his fulfillment quotation from Jeremiah 31, verse 15,

Jeremiah 31:15

which says,

Now Matthew quotes this in chapter 2, verse 18,

after Herod has killed a bunch of children.

And then Matthew says this passage is fulfilled.

Yet, Jeremiah, in his context,

is speaking of a time when God's people are led in captivity.

So this is one indication, among many,

that Matthew views his present moment,

first century A.D., the time of Christ,

as still yet a time of exile.

Israel is not made at home.

In fact, when you look at every one of the fulfillment quotations

in Matthew chapters 1 through 4,

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

of which there are many,

every single one is speaking in a context of exile.

And so Matthew sees this ongoing exile,

and he makes it clear, too, in chapter 1,

that the cause of this exile is sin.

Just as Israel was led in captivity in the Old Testament

due to their idolatry and wickedness,

so, too, in Jesus' day,

did the people remain in exile for their sin.

He indicates this not only by the baptism of repentance

that we're reading about,

but in chapter 1, verse 21,

the angel of the Lord says to Joseph,

of the Christ child,

he says,

you shall call his name Jesus,

for he will save his people

from their sins.

Okay, so,

here's how all this ties in

to Jesus identifying

with his people.

Jesus comes

to be baptized

in the Jordan,

in the wilderness.

So, again,

Matthew is playing on this exile theme

to say something about

Christ.

There's a lot of symbolic imagery

conveyed by baptism.

The submersion of baptism

signifies being under the wrath of God.

Of course, you think of this

because of the flood

in Genesis 6.

You also might think

of the Exodus account

when Moses leads Israel

through the Red Sea.

It's parted.

God parts it

so they can pass through safely,

but then he collapses it

to crush Egypt,

Pharaoh's army.

So, it is both a salvation

for Israel

and a judgment

on Egypt.

And so,

I think Matthew

intends our minds

to think about

all these things.

Perhaps most directly,

though,

he intends us to recall

Joshua.

For one,

Joshua's name

is the same as Jesus's,

and we translate it in English

or transliterate

as Joshua.

In Hebrew,

it's Yeshua.

But Jesus is just

the Greek transliteration

of Yeshua as well.

So, it's the same name.

You might call

the book of Joshua

the book of Jesus

in a sense, right?

Same name.

And it simply means

God saves.

And more so,

recall

the Jordan

in Joshua.

In Joshua chapter 3

Joshua 3 · chapter mention

through 4,

God parts the Jordan

so Joshua

can lead Israel

out of the wilderness,

out of the exile,

so to speak,

into the promised land

and conquer

it.

So, Jesus,

in great humility,

is identifying

with his people Israel.

He does this

by reenacting

their entire history.

And Matthew

shows us this.

It began in the genealogy,

continues in chapter 2

where he's persecuted

by Herod

and has to flee

to Egypt

like Moses

was persecuted

by Pharaoh.

further still now

in chapter 3

the baptism

reenacting

several significant

Old Testament moments

in the story

and life of Israel.

And it goes on

if you read chapter 4

Jesus goes further

into the wilderness

to be tempted

by the devil

while he's hungry.

That sounds a lot

like Israel

in the wilderness.

And then chapter 5

Jesus ascends the mount

and gives

teaching on the law.

Well, that sounds a lot

like Moses

and Israel.

And this goes on

and on and on

throughout Matthew

but you get the point.

Matthew is carefully

weaving this story

to show how Jesus

identifies

with Israel.

He is

the new Israel.

So in his great humility

in his great wisdom

and mercy

Christ is symbolically

saying

through the act

of this baptism

I will take on

my people's exile.

I will take on

their sin

by going in

to exile.

I will bear

what they have

born.

Now by itself

that doesn't make

sense.

How does Jesus

entering exile

help his people?

And since he is

without sin

born of the virgin

why would he

participate

in a baptism

of repentance

to begin with?

This kind of thinking

I think

is what led

to John's objection

in verse 14.

Did you notice

he would have

prevented him

saying I have

need of you

but you come

to me?

So why would

John

baptize Jesus?

Why would Jesus

initiate this?

Well we then

learn from Jesus

response that

Jesus

is the savior

of his people.

Jesus is the

savior

of his people.

Go ahead

and look at

verse 15.

Jesus answers

John saying

permit it for

now in this

manner it is

fitting for us

to fulfill

all righteousness.

Now Jesus

is not saying

that the act

of baptism

saves us.

This is not

a proof text

for so-called

baptismal

regeneration.

We are saved

by grace alone

through faith alone

apart from

works of the

law.

Just one

example

consider the

thief on the

cross whom

Jesus forgives

and promises

today you

will be with

me in

paradise.

Clearly the

thief in his

final moments

of life on

the cross was

saved yet

without

baptism.

So this

can't be what

Jesus means.

Nor do I

think Matthew

is talking about

the imputation

of righteousness.

Now doctrinally

speaking I do

believe that

Christ's righteousness

is imputed to

believers.

Paul makes

that clear in

Romans 4 verse

Romans 4:3

3 he writes

Abraham believed

God and it

was counted to

him or reckoned

as righteousness.

So that idea of

imputed righteousness

is true it's

biblical it's

essential it's

wonderful but I

don't think that's

what's being

discussed in

Matthew 3 15.

I think people

who say

otherwise have

a case of

right doctrine

but wrong

text.

Rather in

Matthew the

term righteousness

usually conveys

salvation or

more commonly

in Matthew a

ethical

righteousness as

an actual good

works.

And this does

not mean Matthew

is preaching a

different gospel

than Paul.

It's not a

contradiction between

the two at all.

It's just that he's

emphasizing something

different using

the same work.

And this is why

people can get

confused.

So an example

of the ethical

use of righteousness

or the good works

sense of it is

Matthew 5 10.

Blessed are those

persecuted for

righteousness sake.

Clearly Jesus

intends in that

passage those who

are persecuted for

living righteously

by doing the

right things

being the right

kind of person.

An example of

righteousness used

to convey salvation

in Matthew would

be Matthew 6 33.

Seek first the

kingdom of God

and his

righteousness.

The coming of

the kingdom

inheriting the

kingdom entering

the kingdom.

These are all

ways to describe

salvation and

God's rule and

reign.

And so in

chapter 6 verse

33 Matthew puts

kingdom of God

and righteousness

in tandem.

It's a package

deal.

So in our

text chapter 3

verse 15 I

think both these

uses of

righteousness are

in play.

Jesus is saying

that in the

manner of

baptism we will

fulfill all

righteousness.

Both this ethical

righteousness by

keeping the law

doing good works

perfectly but

also the long

awaited salvation

that Israel

longed for

in exile.

He's saying I

will bring this

about as your

just and

righteous king.

So Jesus is

saying something

about the manner

in which he will

save his people.

He is our

savior we've seen

that but he's

also saying

something about

the manner in

which he will

save us.

But we already

saw it's not

baptism that saves

so what is

he showing

us?

What is it

that saves

us?

What is

Jesus saying?

Well this is

the next thing

we learn.

Jesus is saying

he will suffer

for his people

to bring peace

and new creation

through the

spirit.

Jesus will

suffer for his

people to bring

peace and new

creation through

the spirit.

Go ahead and

look at verse

16.

when he was

baptized

immediately

Jesus came up

from the water

and behold the

heavens were

open to him

and he saw

the spirit of

God descending

like a dove

and coming to

rest on him.

So immersion

really matters

to understand

this imagery.

This isn't just

a Baptist

shtick.

This matters.

Jesus goes

under the

water.

He's not

dabbled by it.

He goes

under.

And significantly

this signifies

death.

Being under

the wrath

of God.

And Paul

certainly

understood it

this way.

Romans 6

4.

He says

we were

buried

therefore

with him

by baptism

into death

in order

that just

as Christ

was raised

from the

dead

by the

glory of

father

we too

might walk

in newness

of life.

Now Jesus'

audience in

Matthew

would have

understood

this imagery

as the

Old Testament

often has

negative

connotations

for water.

So again

this is largely

due to the

flood as I

already referenced

that would be

a big

symbolic

thing in

their mind

when it

comes to

water.

So in

Matthew 3

16

Jesus is

foreshadowing

his own

death.

This is why

he says in

verse 15

in this

manner.

In other

words in

a way

similar to

what I'm

about to

symbolically

enact

we will

fulfill

all

righteousness.

Christ

goes down

into death

to identify

with his

people but

importantly as

verse 15

says he

comes back

up

immediately

and so

thus he

foreshadows

his

resurrection

and the

resurrection

of all

believers.

But this

is not all

that is

signified in

this scene.

The imagery

goes on

and it

reminds us

that the

gospel is

not merely

a free

get out

of hell

jail card.

As great

as that is

as much

as I

love that

it is

even better

more full

more rich

more satisfying

Jesus

brings peace

and new

creation

through

the spirit.

In the

Greco-Roman

world there

was a

common

practice

called

augury.

This was

a practice

where augers

would examine

birds,

their flight

patterns,

their cries,

what types

of birds

and these

kinds of

things.

And after

they examined

all this

information

on a given

day it

would reveal

the will

of the

gods.

If you

want to

know what

this looks

like,

come find

me on

a Saturday

morning.

You may

recall this

from the

movie Troy

if you've

ever seen

it.

They look

at the

birds and

they're like,

oh yeah,

we're going

to be good.

But then

they're not,

so the city

is besieged.

But nonetheless,

that would be

an example

of augury.

It's a big

deal,

very widespread,

very common.

Even Jews

probably participate

in this,

you know,

the ones who

were less

faithful to

Yahweh.

And

significantly,

certain birds

were associated

with certain

omens.

The eagle

was favored

because it

signified strength,

military superiority,

and prosperity.

This was the

preferred bird

for kings

and generals,

and this is

why the

Roman armies

carried an

eagle standard

and not a

duck standard.

Right?

And likewise,

it is why

Nazi Germany,

even the

United States

of America,

and many

other nations

since then

have used

eagles

as a symbol

for their

military.

It is a sign

of strength,

superiority.

On the other

hand,

you have

the dove.

One of the

less respected

birds in

augury.

The dove

symbolized

peace,

gentleness,

love.

That sounds

great to us,

to a Roman.

I'm going to

bully you.

Right?

That doesn't

sound that great.

You don't want

the dove.

It kind of

makes you look

a little weak.

You want

the eagle,

especially if

you're a king.

You want

the eagle.

So you can

imagine the

shock when in

Matthew's

gospel,

which is the

royal gospel,

the kingly

gospel,

where we are

constantly

reminded that

Jesus,

the son of

David,

is king and

lord.

The shock

when a bird

descends from

heaven,

and it's

not an eagle.

It's a dove.

He did not

come to

conquer the

Romans and

lead a

military campaign.

He came to

bring peace to

sinners stuck

in exile who

need to be

made bright

with God.

Further,

this dove

symbolizes new

creation.

So keep in

mind,

it is the

spirit of God

coming in

the likeness

of a

dove.

This

calls to

mind

Genesis

Genesis 1:2

chapter 1

verse 2,

which says,

the earth

was without

form and

void,

and darkness

was over

the face

of the

deep,

and the

spirit of

God was

hovering over

the face

of the

waters.

Now that

verb,

hovering,

is a

word often

used to

describe

birds.

And a

lot of

ancient

interpreters

connected

this hovering

word with

the dove

that we

read about

in Matthew

3.

More

concretely

though,

the dove

recalls

Noah after

the flood.

In the

narrative of

Genesis,

God wipes

out humanity

with a

worldwide flood

and essentially

starts creation

over.

First Adam

messed up,

well,

I'll make a

new Adam.

His name's

going to be

Noah.

I'm going

to keep

him and

his little

family alive

and wipe

out everybody,

wipe out

the land.

I'm going

to start

over.

Let's see

how this

goes.

Not that

he knows

how it's

going to

go,

but you

get the

idea.

So in

the narrative,

you're

expecting,

okay,

things are

going to

get better.

We got

a new

Adam,

second

chance,

right?

Well,

not so.

He floods

the earth

and things

don't go so

well for

Noah and

his family

later on

due to

sin.

And so

you're still

awaiting

this new

Adam,

this new

Noah.

But in

that story

with Noah,

he becomes

this new

Adam,

tragically

fails,

but the

key to

this is

Genesis

8.

In that

passage,

Noah is

on the

ark,

the flood

is ending,

he doesn't

know if

it's over

yet,

and so

to test if

there's

land,

he's on

a ship,

right,

the ark,

he sends

out a

dove.

And of

course,

the dove

does not

return to

him once

he sends

it out,

and so

that's how

Noah knows

it's safe

to get

out.

There's

land.

The dove

went

somewhere.

So

notice

here,

this

context

is

hinting

at a

new

creation.

When you

string all

these threads

together,

as I believe

Matthew intends

us to,

the picture

is clear.

Jesus

will suffer

for his

people to

bring peace

and new

creation

through

the

Spirit.

It's

just as

John the

Baptist

said in

Matthew 3.11,

he will

baptize you

with the

Holy Spirit.

He does

so as

the

anointed

one with

the

Spirit to

bring about

the promised

new covenant

in which

all members

will receive

the Spirit.

Now,

just in

case someone

thinks I'm

being a

little too

creative here

making this

up,

just consider

what Paul's

understanding

of baptism

is once

more.

We already

saw from

Romans that

Paul understands

baptism as

death and

life imagery.

In 2 Corinthians

5.17,

we get a

little further

insight into

Paul and

how he

understands

baptism.

He says,

therefore,

if anyone

is in

Christ,

he is a

new creation.

The old

has passed

away.

Behold,

the new

has come.

That really

enhances how

we understand

Paul in

Romans 6.4,

which I read

earlier,

when he

says that

we are

in newness

of life.

This is

all new

creation

language.

When we

baptize

someone,

we as

a church

and they

as an

individual

are making

a public

proclamation

that so-and-so

is in

Christ,

so-and-so

is a

Christian,

so-and-so

is part

of the

new

creation.

this was

anticipated

by the

Old Testament

prophecies

of the

new

covenant.

You think

of Ezekiel

36,

26-27,

which says,

God speaks

and he

says,

I will

give you

a new

heart

and a

new

spirit

I will

put

within

you,

and I

will

remove

the

heart

of

stone

from

your

flesh

and

give

you

a

heart

of

flesh,

and I

will

put

my

spirit

within

you

and

cause

you

to

walk

in

my

statues

and be

careful

to

obey

my

rules.

So,

notice

again

that

new

creation

language,

new

heart,

new

spirit,

referencing

the

Holy

Spirit

who's

given.

So,

I think

it is

clear then

that

Matthew

3-16

is

presenting

the

baptism

as

a

new

creation

act.

This

is the

beginning

of the

new.

And

one

major

implication

of these

truths

that I've

just

expounded

is that

we

Baptists

got it

right.

Baptism

is only

for those

who are

actually

in

Christ.

I love

our

Paedo

Baptist

brothers

and

sisters,

but they're

just wrong

about this

one.

Just

try and

find a

passage

where

someone

is

depicted

as

new

creation

who

is

not

also

saved

and

elect.

Right?

You

won't.

So

why

would

we

baptize

persons

signifying

they are

of the

new

creation

when

in fact

we have

no idea

and believe

it possible

for them

to not

be

elect

a new

creation?

It just

doesn't

really

compute

with the

Bible.

So

baptism

is for

those

publicly

recognizing

they are

in

Christ

within

the

context

of a

local

church

that

shares

that

assessment.

And

this

is why

the

elders

when

they

baptize

someone

here

say

John

Doe

having

made a

credible

profession

of

faith

we

baptize

you

in

the

name

of

the

Father

the

Son

and

the

Holy

Spirit

you

have

been

buried

with

Christ

in

baptism

and

raised

to

walk

in

the

newness

of

life

coming

from

Romans

6

4

new

creation

language

so

we'll

come back

to this

in our

application

but I

hear now

why this

new

creation

thread

is on

your

minds

because

it is

hard

to

follow

so

I

wanted

to

mention

that

now

so

Jesus

is going

to

suffer

he's

going

to

bring

peace

he's

going

to

bring

about

this

new

creation

through

the

spirit

but who

is

Jesus

that he

can

do

all

this

well

this

is

the

next

thing

we

learn

about

Jesus

it

jumps

off

the

page

at

you

in

verse

17

Jesus

is

son

of

God

and

king

of

kings

Matthew

3

17

God

speaks

from

the

opened

heavens

and

says

this

is

my

beloved

son

with

whom

I'm

well

pleased

God

makes

this

declaration

of

his

son

to

his

son

and

the

crowds

over

here

and

what

a

wild

scene

and

that

Jewish

crowd

would

immediately

recognize

these

words

God

is

combining

two

passages

from

the

old

testament

we

read

one

of

them

this

morning

he's

combining

psalm

2

7

and

isaiah

Isaiah 42:1

42

verse

1

psalm

2

7

says

the

lord

said

to

me

you

are

my

son

there's

that

echo

today

i'm

begotten

isaiah

Isaiah 42:1

42

verse

1

reads

behold

my

servant

whom

i

uphold

my

chosen

in

whom

my

soul

delights

i've

put

my

spirit

upon

him

and

he

will

bring

forth

justice

same

word

for

righteousness

to

the

nations

now

psalm

2

is a

coronation

psalm

you heard

nathan

preach on

this

just a

couple

weeks

ago

this

psalm

speaks

of

in

its

original

context

David

but

in

its

messianic

ultimate

context

Christ

and

this

psalm

was

likely

read

in

Israel

whenever

a

king

was

coronated

crowned

and

so

it's

significant

that

jesus

would

choose

to

quote

this

at

the

baptism

this

is

the

crowning

of

the

king

he's

making

it

clear

this

is

my

son

the

king

of

kings

and

likewise

psalm

2

speaks

of

god's

eternal

plan

with

his

son

to

judge

the

wicked

to

save

the

righteous

how

they

laugh

at

the

plans

of

the

wicked

and

how

christ

son

will

conquer

all

and

so

in

this

baptism

god's

indicating

i'm

going to

conquer

the

world

not

through

war

not

through

military

might

through

peace

through

sacrifice

through

my

son

in

whom

i'm

well

pleased

so

this

is

the

king

of

kings

he's

being

recognized

as

king

in

this

baptism

and

then

the

reference

to

isaiah

42

likewise

evokes

the

wider

context

of

isaiah

particularly

the

servant

songs

as

they're

known

of

isaiah

40

through

55

i'm

not

going

to

read

all

that

but

this

passage

depicts

the

coming

messiah

as

a

servant

pleasing

to

the

lord

the

servant

will

bring

justice

to

the

nations

like

psalm

2

says

this

servant

will

die

for

the

many

for

their

transgressions

to

make

atonement

see

that

in

isaiah

53

in

short

so much

of what

we have

already

seen

and talked

about

that we've

seen

symbolically

in the

act of

this

baptism

is made

explicit

by these

quotations

in the

declaration

from

the

father

and so

in closing

friends

all i can

say is

behold

your

god

king

jesus

the

beloved

son

of

god

empowered

by the

spirit

came

to

save

his

people

from

their

sin

and

exile

by

identifying

with

them

and

suffering

for

them

to

secure

peace

and

begin

the

new

creation

so

in

closing

i just

want to

offer

a few

reflections

and

applications

number

one

repent

and

believe

right

do you

know

this

king

have

you

repented

of

your

sins

and

placed

faith

in

him

why

wouldn't

you

what

or who

is

greater

that

would

prevent

you

and

have

you

publicly

made

this

repentance

and

believe

clear

by

obediently

being

baptized

you

are

under

the

wrath

of

God

you

are

in